The Hacker Fair: Where Job-Hunting Developers Get A Chance Show Off Their Skills

For most people on the prowl for employment, job fairs are something of a mixed blessing. Yes, they can sometimes lead to job opportunities. But it’s often very difficult to separate yourself from the dozens (or hundreds) of other prospective applicants in attendance — at the end of the day, you’re probably just another resume in the stack. The Hacker Dojo, a community center that caters to developers in the Mountain View area, is looking to turn that model on its head with The Hacker Fair. Where developers actually get to show off their coding talents to the employers in attendance.

Here’s how they describe it:

At the Hacker Fair, the job seekers are the ones giving demonstrations, and the recruiters are the ones walking around.

Think of it as a “science fair” where the “science projects” are the developers’ personal and side projects, the “judges” are recruiters, and the “prizes” are interviews and hopefully job offers!

The event will be taking place on January 16th from 10am – 1pm, in Mountain View CA (you can find more details on signing up here). It will be attended by some of Silicon Valley’s most well known companies, including Yahoo, Microsoft, Mozilla, Yelp, and plenty more. Microsoft is even sponsoring breakfast.

For those who attend, feel free to let us know how it goes in the comments. I’m guessing a few of the hackers may get creative with their projects, and employers won’t know what to expect, which should make things even more interesting.